By Bob Dole In his ”Special to Roll Call” piece dated Aug. 6, Justin Shubow, whom Washingtonian magazine referred to as a “local gadfly” (“Tug of War,” May 2014) proves that characterization. Always buzzing about, Mr. Shoofly never runs out of things to say out of both sides of his mouth: Ike’s memorial has taken too long; no wait, it’s happening too fast; no wait, let’s start again and waste tens of millions of taxpayer money. To his burning question — “What’s the matter with Kansas?”— let me respond simply: not a damn thing. Kansans appreciate the meaning of the 15 years of hard work that have gone into creating a memorial to a great American, who happens to be Kansas’ favorite son. Over those 15 years, Ike’s memorial has successfully gone through the two rigorous federal review processes that have resulted in the design receiving final approval. That’s well over a decade of nose-to-the-grindstone work by 12 commissioners, eight of whom were members of Congress and four of whom were presidential appointees, including one who was an Eisenhower family member.

It’s time for Shoofly and his bought-and-paid-for gadfly pals to wake up and realize there is no war other than the one he is waging. People like him whose weapon is their mouth don’t know what it’s like to be at the receiving end of a howitzer, or know what it is to fight a real war. Ike did. Those of us who were his troops did. And we are on a mission. It’s time for Shoofly and his ilk to cut the quips and stand aside — we are moving ahead, and we certainly do not need the approval of Justin Shubow and his tiny clan.